%0 Journal Article
%T Analysis of the Phenology in the Mongolian Plateau by Inter-Comparison of Global Vegetation Datasets
%A Lijuan Miao
%A Yibo Luan
%A Xiangzhong Luo
%A Qiang Liu
%A John C. Moore
%A Reshmita Nath
%A Bin He
%A Feng Zhu
%A Xuefeng Cui
%J Remote Sensing
%D 2013
%I MDPI AG
%R 10.3390/rs5105193
%X This study evaluates the performances of three global satellite datasets (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Satellite pour l¡¯ observation de la Terre (SPOT) of the Mongolian Plateau, where in situ observation is insufficient to assess vegetation dynamics on terrestrial systems. We give a comprehensive assessment of the historical changes in vegetation dynamics by using comparative and correlation methods on the three archives using two indices: the growing season¡¯s Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the Start of the Season Index (SOS). The main findings are: (1) MODIS and SPOT have generally better comparability and consistency in the spatial-temporal trends of NDVI and SOS than AVHRR in this area; (2) all the three archives exhibit better consistency in Inner Mongolia than in Mongolia; (3) integration data analysis of AVHRR (1982¨C1997) and SPOT (1998¨C2012) shows that the dynamics of vegetation growth has three distinct phases: enhanced before 1994; a flatter/slightly decreasing trend before 2001; and, then, a rapid recovery between 2001 and 2012 with remarkable spatial heterogeneity, with Inner Mongolia experiencing a significant greening in vegetation NDVI compared with no obvious changes in Mongolia; (4) the temporal average SOS showed no significant ¡°earlier spring¡± onset during the past 31 years, on the middle and northern Mongolian Plateau.
%K phenology
%K global NDVI product
%K climate factors
%K Mongolian Plateau
%U http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/5/10/5193